Pevensey
Castle is a castle at Pevensey,
near Eastbourne in Sussex, England.
The ruins of the medieval castle at
Pevensey stand in one corner of a Roman fort, on what was once a
peninsula surrounded by the sea and salt marshes. The Roman fort, named
Anderida, was built in about AD 290. It is one of the largest surviving
examples in Britain, with two thirds of its walls and towers still
standing to almost their original height. Unlike most Roman forts that
were built to a standard rectangular plan, Anderida has an irregular
oval layout that follows the shape of the peninsular.

Pevensey
Castle aerial view

Roman
fort

It
was first built as Anderida or Caer Andred, a Saxon Shore
Fort between 300 and 340 by the Romans during a time when Britain was
still part of the Roman Empire. At this time the south and east of the
province Britannia were under constant attack from marauding barbarian
tribes, namely the Jutes and Saxons. The south and eastern seaboards of
Britannia were collectively known as "the Saxon Shore" and
several large forts were built to defend it.

The
fort was built on what was then an uninhabited peninsula of land rising
above the coastal marshes. The sea washed over what is now Pevensey
Marshes surrounding Anderida on three sides, so giving a safe and
sheltered landing point. This marshy inlet of the sea, extending inland
as far as Hailsham, was studded with small areas of high land which
remained as islands at high tide so giving the place-names of Rickney,
Horse Eye, North Eye and Pevensey. All are derived from the Old English
word 'eye' meaning island.

The
fort was repaired, probably by the great Roman General Stilicho, about
AD 400. The massive Roman enceinte still stands but little damaged.

Pevensey
Castle moat facing east

Architectural
Features

The
Castle enjoys dungeons and passages, spiral staircases and basement
rooms Three main curtain towers remain and the North, East and South of
the Castle.

It
is moated with a drawbridge, Roman outer walls and remains of the once
grand medieval castle keep. Two thirds of the Roman fort walls remain
standing at full height and the ruins of a twin-towered medieval
gatehouse are still standing.

There
is also a postern gate which gave direct access to the medieval shore,
and a fifty foot well lined with stone. Once within the castle walls one
can view the stone foundations of the Chapel which once stood within the
Castle.

“The
Rape of Pevensey is of a curious shape. [Sussex is divided into six
regions called Rapes] It narrows somewhat towards the middle and
bulges out towards the top, or north end. This appears to be the
contrary of what one would expect in a Sussex division, the important
part of which always lay round the sea cost [to the south], but the
cause of the shape thus assumed by the Rape is that in its northern part
the iron industry had arisen long before the Norman Conquest [1066], and
had thus opened up the Weald; it had also made the
government of the area and the collection of taxes from it a subject of
ambition for the strongest of the neighbouring lords.

“Such a lord was found in the Earl of Moreton, the broteher-in-law of
the Conqueror, who held the Castle of Pevensey, and who was teh first
controller of the district after the full Norman organisation began.
“Here, as in the case of Hastings, but unlike every other Rape, the
seat of government, Pevensey, was actually upon the sea.

“The
name Pevensey is instructive of its antiquity. It is probably derived
from Celtic roots signifying “the fortification at the far end of the
wood,” which would exactly describe an important and fortified
sea-coast town situated as Pevensey was situated to the forest from
which it took its Roman name; for “Anderida,” or “Andresio,”
certainly refers to the Weald, the Celtic forest of “Andred,” of
which the Saxons made the “Andredswald.”

"It
is doubtful whether anything of Roman structure remains in Pevensey,
though much of the material used in that castle is Roman, and though the
towers of that fortification are round. It is enough to remark, that
after the long night of the Saxon period the town shared in the general
renaissance of South England which followed the Norman Conquest. To give
but one indication of this: it trebled in population in twenty years.
There is little doubt that at this period, that is, throughout the end
of the eleventh century, the whole of the twelfth, and beginning of the
thirteenth, the harbour lay beneath the mound of the present ruins. The
contour lines, slight as they are in elevation, and the nature of the
soil are enough to prove this; nor is it difficult, as one stands on the
height of Pevensey Castle to reproduce the scene which must
have presented itself to the eye of a man living six hundred years ago
when he looked northwards and eastwards at high tide.”

Pevensey
Castle painting Wilfred Ball 1906

Roman
fort

It
was first built as Anderida or Caer Andred, a Saxon Shore
Fort built by the Romans during a time when Britain was still part of
the Roman Empire. Recent dendochronological dating of wooden foundation
piles have dated this to AD 290. At this time the south and east of the
province Britannia were under constant attack from marauding barbarian
tribes, namely the Jutes and Saxons. The south and eastern seaboards of
Britannia were collectively known as "the Saxon Shore" and
several large forts were built to defend it.

The
fort was built on what was then an uninhabited peninsula of land rising
above the coastal marshes. The sea washed over what is now Pevensey
Marshes surrounding Anderida on three sides, so giving a safe and
sheltered landing point. This marshy inlet of the sea, extending inland
as far as Hailsham, was studded with small areas of high land which
remained as islands at high tide so giving the place-names of Rickney,
Horse Eye, North Eye and Pevensey. All are derived from the Old English
word 'eye' meaning island.

The
fort was repaired, probably by the great Roman General Stilicho, about
AD 400. The massive Roman enceinte still stands but little damaged.

Saxons

The
fall of Anderida in 491 to invading Saxons under the command of King
Aelle and the subsequent slaughter of its garrison and burning of the
fort to the ground was a turning point in the Romano-British defence of
the south-east coast. Following its demise the British inhabitants of
the south-east fled northwards to the comparative safety of the
impassable forests of the Coit Andred (also known as The Weald)
or by boat for Armorica in northern Gaul. In their place King Aelle
established the Kingdom of the South Saxons from which we get the modern
name Sussex.

The
site lay abandoned for 600 years after 491 and was for a while known by
the Saxons as Andredceaster, with the Weald of southern England from
Anderida to Dorset named Andredsweald or the Forest of Andred.

View
from the inner bailey showing the outer Roman curtain wall

Late
Saxons and Normans

The
site was next occupied in 1042, when an Anglo-Saxon noble (Harold
Godwinson, Earl of Wessex - later King Harold II of England) established
a strong point here, improving fortifications by digging ditches within
the walls of the Roman Fort. The English army remained at the fort
during the summer of 1066 before abandoning it to meet the invading
Norwegians further north. When the Duke William the Bastard of Normandy
invaded Sussex, landing at Pevensey Bay in September 1066, there were no
defences at Pevensey or anywhere else on the south coast. Upon landing,
the invading Normans created a temporary fortification within the Roman
walls.

In
September 1066 at the ensuing Battle of Hastings on Senlac Hill, Duke
William of Normandy defeated the combined English armies led by King
Harold II, having landed his invading army and setting up a defensive
camp before marching to Hastings. Following
his victory, William gave Pevensey to his half-brother, Robert, Count of
Mortain.

Remnants
of Castle drawbridge

In
late 1066 the castle at Pevensey was occupied by the Normans. Much of
the Roman fort remaining on the castle site is due largely to the work
of Robert of Mortain (half brother to William the Conqueror), who was
granted Pevensey Castle shortly after the Norman Conquest. De Mortain
used the existing fort as the base for building his castle, carrying out
only minor repairs to the walls forming the outer bailey, and building a
new inner bailey at the eastern end.

A
new gateway replaced the original main entrance to the southwest, and
the east gateway was repaired. Other alterations made were mainly
additions and improvements to existing structures within the original
fort. An irregular, rectangular-shaped enclosure was created using part
of the Roman wall and two bastions on the southeastern side. Shortly
after the inner bailey was created, the rectangular stone keep was
erected, incorporating part of the east curtain wall and a Roman
bastion. Some time later, three more bastions facing the inner bailey
were added to the keep.

The
castle was besieged by William Rufus in the Rebellion of 1088 and during
a period of civil war by the forces loyal to King Stephen (1135-1141).

The
castle developed gradually over the centuries with phases of building
interspersed by periods of decline, including the slighting of the
castle by King John in 1216. The castle was rebuilt and remained
occupied into the 15th century, by which time it served as a state
prison. The castle's strategic location as a possible landing point for
foreign invaders gave it an importance that led to several sieges over
the course of its history, and even after it had fallen into ruin it was
put to use for the defence of the country. A gun emplacement was built
at the time of the Spanish Armada, and during the Second World War
machine-gun posts and billets for troops were created within the remains
of the castle. The pillboxes can still be seen at the castle,
camouflaged to look like the rest of the building.

Pevensey
Castle by JMW Turner 1817

Post
Norman

Simon
de Montfort, on his way back from taking Lewes, besieged the castle in
1264.

1500
to present

During
later times the ancient castle nearly did not survive. Queen Elizabeth I
ordered the castle to be demolished but this was ignored and during the
period of interegnum under Oliver Cromwell efforts were again made to
destroy it but luckily only a few stones were removed. As late as 1942
small additions were made to the castle for the defence of Britain when
it became a look-out over the channel for invading German warplanes and
a pillbox during World
War II.

Entrance
to the Roman fort is free, but there is a charge to enter the medieval
castle.

Address:
Castle Road, Pevensey, East Sussex, BN24 5LE

OS
Grid Ref: TQ644051

Telephone:
01323 762604

World
War II modifications to Pevensey castle - gun emplacement

Pevensey
Castle had once been a Roman fort and William the Conqueror landed near
the castle in 1066. Before marching to Hastings William repaired the
castle and used it to regroup his invasion force. After the Conquest
William granted the castle to his half-brother Robert, Count of Mortain.
Of the existing castle Robert found Roman walls 20 to 30 feet high and
10 feet in thickness. The castle was repaired and improved to such an
extent that it proved to be hard to overcome. It stood up to sieges in
1088 by William Rufus and again in 1147 when King Stephen laid siege to
it until the trapped soldiers, lead by Gilbert de Clare, ran out of
food.

TIMELINE

1088

Pevensey
Castle siege

William
Rufus lays siege to Pevensey Castle in the dispute over the
English throne with his brother Robert. The siege held until
Rufus was declared King.

1147

Pevensey
Castle siege

King
Stephen leys siege to Pevensey castle and has to wait for the
castle's reserves to run out before the castle falls.